Rebecca's Reviews > A Diary of Private Prayer

This is a revised reprint edition of a 1936 devotional classic. It’s structured for 31 days plus Sundays, and divided into morning and evening. The prayers are a mixture of prose and verse, with liberal quotations from poets (Wordsworth, Tennyson, et al.) and the book of Psalms. Some also have fill-in-the-blank sections to allow for personalization. Susanna Wright’s updates are evident in mentions of atoms and molecules, HIV/AIDS, and computers and the Internet.

Some favorite passages:

“when this morning prayer is finished, do not let me think that my worship is ended and spend the rest of the day forgetting you. Rather, from these quiet moments, let light and joy and power pour out and remain with me through every hour of this day.”

“Give me the strength to confront any mountain of duty or bad habit. Where an action of mine can make this world a better place, where a word of mine can cheer a sad heart or strengthen a weak will, where a prayer of mine can serve Christ’s kingdom, there let me act and speak and pray.”

“O Lord, you indwell our shabby human life, lifting it now and then above the dominance of animal passion and greed, allowing it to shine with borrowed lights of love and joy and peace, and making it a mirror of the beauties of a world unseen.”

“Do not let me refuse to show those closest to me the courtesy and kindness which I would show to strangers. Let charity begin at home today.”

“Let all the knowledge I absorb refresh my mind in a way that makes me more eagerly seek whatever is pure and fair and true.”